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Prosecutors

Acting US attorney once orchestrated Facebook posts criticizing judge presiding in his case, report says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

April 28, 2025, 11:12 am CDT

The acting U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., formerly helped ghostwrite posts criticizing a judge presiding in a civil case in which he was the defendant, according to lawsuit documents cited by ProPublica.

U.S. attorney nominee Edward R. Martin Jr. helped his associate, Priscilla Gray, write the posts that began in 2016 after the Illinois judge “dealt Martin a major setback in the case,” according to the report by ProPublica, noted by Bloomberg Law’s Wake Up Call. Martin is filling the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia position on an acting basis.

Gray’s posts on the judge’s Facebook page called the judge a “politician” with the “lowest rating for a judge in Illinois.”

Martin had urged Gray to call the judge’s actions “unfair and rigged over and over,” according to ProPublica. He also urged Gray to privately message the judge, the article reports.

The judge was presiding in a case seeking to oust Martin from association with a grassroots group that he once headed, the Eagle Forum. The plaintiff was Anne Schlafly Cori, an Eagle Forum board member who was the daughter of the group’s founder, Phyllis Schlafly.

The truth about Martin’s involvement in the criticism “emerged as Cori’s lawyers gathered evidence for her lawsuit,” according to ProPublica.

President Donald Trump has nominated Martin, who has no prosecution experience, to remain in the U.S. attorney position. Martin did not respond to ProPublica’s requests for comment. Gray also declined to comment to the publication.

Andy Schlafly, a former Eagle Forum board member who supported Martin, told ProPublica that Gray “speaks for herself” and had every right to express her outrage. He also said no court has ever sanctioned Martin for his “First Amendment advocacy.”

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Ethics

Convicted alderman keeps law license after recusals prevent state supreme court from acting

By Debra Cassens Weiss

March 12, 2024, 10:46 am CDT

A convicted former alderman from Chicago remains licensed to practice law after recusals prevented the Illinois Supreme Court from acting on a petition for an interim suspension.

The Illinois Supreme Court was unable to reach a quorum after a majority of the state supreme court’s seven justices recused themselves from the petition to suspend former Ald. Ed Burke. The state supreme court revealed the result in a Feb. 2 order that came to light in March 11 reports by the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times, which published a joint story with WBEZ.

Burke was convicted in December 2023 on charges of racketeering, bribery and attempted extortion. His wife, Anne Burke, had served on the Illinois Supreme Court from 2006 until her November 2022 retirement. She was chief justice from October 2019 to late October 2022.

Court spokesperson Christopher Bonjean told WBEZ that he thinks that some state constitutions allow the substitution of other judges when there are recusals, “but the Illinois Constitution does not have a provision for that.”

At least four of the Illinois Supreme Court’s seven justices are needed for a quorum. Four of the state supreme court’s present justices were on the Illinois Supreme Court when Anne Burke was there, but there is no indication which justices recused themselves.

When Burke is sentenced in June, the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission will be required to file another petition for interim suspension, as called for by court rules, according to the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ.

Burke’s lawyer, Chris Gair, said Burke has not practiced law in a number of years and would like to retire. But attorney discipline officials told Gair that it wasn’t possible for Burke to retire, Gair told the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ.

Burke was convicted “in a city hall shakedown scheme designed to enrich his law firm,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ. He was accused of holding up construction permits if companies did not send their tax appeal work to his former law firm, according to past coverage by the ABA Journal.